Media promote Luxon ahead of his time as politician

People with public profiles, or ‘personalities’ as media who like to think they are also personalities describe them, have a significant advantage over people who don’t have any public profile – name recognition. With the voting public mostly disinterested in most politics and politicians most of the time, having your name known already can be a huge advantage.

But some of them acquire much bigger advantage, gifted to them by media. Journalists see stories, and make stories, when well known person hints at an interest in politics, and when they indicate or announce an interest in politics.

This is what has been happening with ex Air NZ CEO, Christopher Luxon. Even while he was still working for Air NZ media were promoting his prospects not only as a future politician, but also as a future party leader. I think it’s likely some of this at least was deliberately seeded and fed by Luxon, but media willingly obliged.

When Luxon resigned from Air NZ media obliged some more.

When Luxon stood for selection in an electorate, and was subsequently selected to stand in an electorate, media didn’t just report this as news, they promoted the chances of Luxon becoming party leader and potentially Prime Minister.

It will be about a year before the next election, and before we know if Luxon is elected as a back bench MP or not. It would be another two or three years at least before Luxon got a chance of standing for the leadership of National, and even in that sort of time frame it would be remarkable if he did. and he would probably have to compete against other ambitious MPs who have waited for many years working on their chances of rising to the top.

But so far at least Luxon has huge advantage – the media wanting to create stories and effectively create political careers. This is hugely undemocratic. but it is how our media operates in our democracy, as talent scouts and career makers and breakers.

Media does a valuable, essential job reporting politics. But when they become obsessed with making stories rather than reporting them, they are doing a disservice to our democracy.

Media have likened Luxon to John Key, but Key was actually a virtual unknown in New Zealand until he got into politics. However media did help him on his way to the top. That was one success.

However people with public profiles prior to politics don’t necessarily become great politicians – media can give them unbalanced publicity, but they can’t make them good MPs or Ministers.

There are a number of ‘personalities’ (people with media profiles) who have been great politicians.

Pam Corkery comes to mind – after a media background she became an MP in 1996 but left after one term.

Maggie Barry was well known on TV before becoming an MP in 2011. She ended up becoming minor Minister last term but is probably better known for claims of bullying staff, and over the last year for strong and sometimes extreme opposition to the End of Life Choice bill. She has just announced she won’t stand again next year.

John Tamihere had political and media profile but that didn’t help him get close to winning the recent Auckland mayoral election (but he was competing against Phil Goff who got all the media help he could have hoped foe when first standing for mayor three years ago.

In the Dunedin elections in 2016 a radio ‘personality’ stood and got elected, but after an unremarkable term as councillor voters dumped him.

There are media ‘successes’. They certainly helped hype Jacinda Ardern and significantly enhanced her chances of becoming Prime Minister.

Media picked up and disproportionately promoted a young Auckland mayoral candidate in the 2016 election. Chloe Swarbrick went on from that, undoubtedly helped by media attention, to become a Green Party candidate, to get a fast track up the Green list and into Parliament. She would have to be one of the most promising first term MPs.

But excessive media attention can be a double edged sword. The promotion and rise of Luxon has just resulted in his first political success, candidate selection in what should be a safe electorate. And he should get a high enough list position to have a second chance in his first election.

But media attention has led to social media attention, and that will never be all positive.

Under Simon Bridges the National Party seems to be under more influence of conservative Christian leanings. Luxon may add too that.

Speaking to media immediately after he gained a majority of delegates’ votes in the first round, Luxon laid out his views on issues such as abortion, euthanasia and cannabis legalisation.

The 49-year-old Evangelical Christian had previously refused to talk about his views on abortion. But on Monday night he said he was personally against reform of abortion or euthanasia law.

Asked about the influence of his strong personal faith on his political views, Luxon said: “My faith is a very personal thing … it gives me mission and purpose.”

He cited the effect of cannabis on young people with mental health problems in saying he was against its legalisation for recreational use. But he was in favour of decriminalising medical use, he said.

Those views may be popular in the National Party at the moment, but may struggle for wider popular support.

​Luxon, armed with an endorsement from former prime minister (and current Air NZ board member) John Key was regarded as something of a favourite.

It was clear that some of the higher ups in the party’s non-parliamentary wing were keen to see such a celebrity CEO enter Parliament.

It also seems the media have been keen to see such a ‘celebrity CEO’ enter Parliament. and they have been helping promote it.

I think Luxon has already featured on a ‘preferred Prime Minister’ poll. Expect anything like that to be magnified by the media far beyond it’s significance as Luxon gets turbo charged by journalists who often seem more interested in making stories than fair and balanced democracy.

There’s nothing much us plebs can do about over the top and unbalanced media influence politics – except perhaps do more to make up our own minds and vote accordingly.

However with Luxon being gifted an electorate that should be easy for him to win the media are likely to come out on top there – picking and choosing future leaders to promote.

Blazer

Key is on the board of AirNZ,just another coincidence,given that he has endorsed him.
Luxon’s religious zeal will knee cap him.
Luxon still stands to make millions after stepping down at Air.
Compliments of a golden parachute designed and accepted by the most ‘talented’ of individuals.

duperez

The media might be promoting Luxon ahead of his time. The media might be doing a disservice to our democracy. Those however are incidental by-products and more or less irrelevancies to what they are about.

They are operating in a lowest-common-denominator environment in a lowest-common-denominator environment world. Is it reasonable to expect some sort of standards? Yes.
Is it reasonable to expect that those standards and any integrity around them to be come from outside themselves? No.

We get grand notions about the place of the media and have the wisdom of centuries of consideration about it. They always have glittering annual awards shows too with plenty of back-slapping so I guess things are good.

And ironically, aren’t the Luxon thing and the media aspect a perfect 2019 tableau?

Corky

Sounds like great credentials for becoming a polly. Talking of pollies…I wonder how Metiria is fairing? I bet she rues the day she put up her virtue signalling against what is still a conservative public in many regards. She also forgot that being Maori, and talking about such a topic, was an invitation for the media to become feral.

No, Luxon will be heading for the top, unless he gets the ‘wobbles’ once he enters the top echelons of political power. Key didn’t. Maybe the Left have learn’t from that?

Gezza

Well, in endorsing Christopher as the future leader of the National Party, Sir John has effectively shat all over poor, hapless, unpopular, Simon & made him look like the interim, caretaker leader of a party with no new ideas. He’s also possibly screwed other contenders for the leader’s job post-election by setting Chris (with msm compliance) up to take over as leader after a term as a backbenchbench MP.

Meantime, Jacinda still lkely has the bulk of the female vote & a big chunk of the young vote.

Gezza

Corky

Gezza

He hasn’t done so specifically but between the media’s promotion of him as a potential leader, his own meteotic rise to rhe leader’s job after one term & his description of him as “world class” I consider that he’s clearly tagged him for the leader’s job, like he was.

Gezza

[Mind you, “world class” is a pretty meaningless phrase these daze, the casual way it gets bandied about by politicians & business CEOs to describe ANY pet project (or pet protégé) they’re looking to hard sell.]

Alan Wilkinson

Duker

In that situation for Ardern , its true, compared to our previous PM whos personal best was an Obama Golf game but otherwise was only ‘world famous in NZ’. Clark almost made it to the top job at the UN, while on the boards of a few NZ icons and kowtowing to Chinese President ( Bridges only got the head of the justice and security services) is the best Key can do.

Kitty Catkin

I don’t think that the PM is world class; look at her stuff-ups, broken promises, supposed ignorance of accusations of rape and other sex offences going on in her own party even after the allegations had been in the press for a week, the Labour party youth camp where underage drinkers were let loose on unlimited alcohol with predictable results….

The parliamentary car fleet was going to be all electric; how many of the cars are ?

Kitty Catkin

The new winner of the Nobel Peace Prize deserved it. If Jacinda or that squawking Swedish brat had won it, it would have been a travesty. Neither fitted even one of the criteria for this prize. Being nominated for a Nobel Prize means nothing; anyone can be. But only someone who deserves it will win it.

Gezza

Trump is unlikely to get one for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people”, nor for being a white President, nor for not being Barrack Obama. Altho he did get elected in part for that last one.

If they awarded Nobel Peace Prizes for being a jingoistic, lying, bullying, narcissistic con man, he’d be a shoe-in. Alas, they don’t.

Kitty Catkin

adamsmith1922

This is my view, but frankly a conservative,evangelical Christian is not in my view a good choice as PM for a country such as NZ. Plus I find him unimpressive and overly self entitled. Again my personal view. I have never subscribed to the view that a business CEO makes a good PM, let alone a Party Leader. Key was an exception in his transition, but relatively few people across the world have successfully made the transition.Happy to discuss further.

Gezza

New Zealand is becoming increasingly less Christian as time goes by & evangelican Christians tend to have conservative views on many issues that are increasingly out of sync with those who profess no Christian beliefs.

That may count against Luxon, particularly as those politicians who have made strong, conservative Christian beliefs a factor in their electoral campaigns have put people off and/or turned out crashing & burning – Graham Caphill, Colin Craig, Brian & Hannah Tamaki …

Altho I can see how, while Luxon’s religious affiliation might put some potential voters off, it could also attract votes from other Conservative Christians who might otherwise have voted for Craig before his spectacular fall from grace & would barf at the thought of voting for the Tamakis. 😐

Duker

Maybe Luxons longer term future is to ‘do a Winston’ and leave the party that nurtured him and created a strong brand as leader of a small ( but +5%) religious conservative party.
Isnt that what the ‘re-cons’ really need, actual top flight business/political skills rather than the zealots with zero personal/political nous. Watch that space ( a small space, true ) if there is a falling out over ‘principles’?
Luxon will be a force on the fund raiser circuit, and there are plenty of Christians with money who would zero on him. In the national party raising money gives you power and prestige internally, especially with the nomenklatura who run the organisation

Blazer

Blazer

@Duker…what you suggest could indeed be the ‘plan’ to deal with MMP long term.
Makes perfect sense and all the ‘ducks’ are lining up.
Good strategy and as you say fund raising would not be a problem.
Exclusive Brethren would be there with bells on.

Blazer

but wait…there’s more..(NZH)
‘Long before Exclusive Brethren men hired a private investigator to dig dirt on the Prime Minister and other Labour politicians, before Brethren tried to pressure several political parties into a National-led coalition, before the so-called “Secret Seven” Brethren businessmen put almost $1 million into anti-Labour and anti-Green pamphlet campaigns at last year’s election, members of this fundamental Christian fellowship have been part of the commercial fabric of this town, and the wider Kaipara district. It’s the same in 40 towns around the country, from Gisborne to…’

Duker

Kitty , you haven’t been following exclusive brethren political activities. They don’t vote or stand for office themselves and they absolutely spend money on other parties. Luxon fits the bill as closest to their views, more so than that mere Baptist Bridges

Kitty Catkin

I had forgotten that it was the Exclusives (as opposed to the Opens) who paid for those leaflets that were not authorised by National or wanted by them and caused great embarrassment thereby. They don’t usually take an active part in politics.

Kitty Catkin

I can’t agree that most people are disinterested when it comes to politics and politicians; they may be uninterested, but human nature tends to dictate that they won’t be impartial to any great extent.

Chwaga

Sounds very much like Jacinda and the women’s magazines that praised her up long before she became a PM and I seem to remember that she was gifted an electorate. The only difference is that she had failed twice to win what was once a Labour safe seat.

Duker

yeah , she could hardly have won the Battle of Al Alamein like Muldoon did, or run a transport empire like Norm Kirk did or cattle baron like Bolger was ……you mean all these people were no bodies until they became PM too?

Kitty Catkin

Duker

English was z career public servant at Treasury….that’s when the rot started when he was recruited, as he was only an English literature graduate when they used take the best and brightest in Economics and those with a high degree in economics at masters level….oh dear
So began the charade about his farming background and where he was living and the charade about ‘renting in Wellington’

Duker

I was being ironic in how previous PMs were not outstanding in their field….the cincher was that Muldoon was a corporal in North Africa, Kirk worked in the engine room of a harbour ferry…..it seems you didn’t know any of this ….heh GenX

Duker

Duker

This says it all
” Described by his predecessor, Jack Marshall, on the day he was deposed as leader of the National Party, as “critical, aggressive, abrasive and destructive”, Muldoon responded, “I’ve got other qualities as well.”
Unlike Trump he was intelligent and quick thinking

Gezza

Duker

I was too young, but didnt realise Muldoon only took over as party leader , having shafted Marshall ( see above) 9 weeks before Kirk died. Not exactly the same as election was still some time away , but shades of Arderns ‘timing luck’

Gezza

I’m sorry you missed him in the flesh at that time. He was our first PM to know how to use the tv to get his message across. He’d look straight into the lens of the camera as he spoke – even if he was answering a reporter’s question.

Love him or hate him, you’d ALWAYS watch Muldoon on tv. When he did that, you felt like the bugger was right there, right now, in your living room, looking straight at YOU. He also cultivated an air of menace in his voice if answering difficult questions. It made him riveting on telly.

Television made him look normal size, sometimes even larger than life. I got a helluva surprise one day when I was at the old Wellington airport to pick up a relly when he came striding down the access corridor from a plane, accompanied by a few flunkies. He was a real runt.

Alan Wilkinson

I used to see Muldoon in the Wgtn Koru lounge after he lost power. He was a rather pathetic sight.and no-one spoke to him. Earlier as the Values party we didn’t attack him personally though we disliked him and he didn’t attack us.

Gezza

You missed the point by a mile. They had all earned their spurs doing significant hard yards in politics by the time they became party leader PM. Ardern hadn’t. She was a fluffy backbencher given women’s mag celebrity exposure.

Sarcasm is always wasted on me, Dukers. I work only on what posters say. If what they say is stupid, I’ll respond as though they’re stupid.

Blazer

Gezza

Can’t see where Dukers mentioned Key, Guaido or Trump in our exchange?

But Key was shoulder-tapped & was sky-rocketed up the ranks after one term on the back benches, promoted as a successful millionaire money market trader & thus an assumed financial whiz kid who knew a thing or two about economics. Like Ardern, he was then promoted by media – particularly tv media – as having the common touch.

What had Jacinda done?

Trump is a farkin disaster – lying, bullying, narcissistic con man – but an illustration of the spectacular state of decline & depravity of American politics & society.

Guaido’s a Big Business puppet, but at least he is taking risks. Maduro’s regime is an incompetent disaster.

Blazer

‘ They had all earned their spurs doing significant hard yards in politics by the time they became party leader PM.’
So you cannot see any correlation at all..very good…I think JA was in parliament for maybe 8 years and her ‘credentials’ are at worst better than say..Bill English…btw what risks is unelected .acknowledged leader of Venezuela by the international banking cartel..taking?

Gezza

Beatings & arrest. Has happened to some of his supporters. The fact he is in the pocket of Trump & co, the US corporates, is what’s keeping him safe for now. But a rogue Maduro supporter off the leash could put a bullet in his head sometime.

Came in on the list, unable to win an electorate, initially. Only one her seat when gifted it & Jacindamania had been cranked up by the female msm. What spokesperson roles did Jacinda have in Opposition prior to PM?

Blazer

dear oh dear..I well remember you writing off Ardern early doors,like so many others..in 2 years she has become recognised here and internationally as a competent leader,especially regarding the alternative.
David Seymour from ACT won an electorate..so how do you rate him?
As for Guaido..represents everything wrong with the world of NEO LIBERALISM..imposed on western nations since the 80’s.

Gezza

Gezza

dear oh dear..I well remember you writing off Ardern early doors,like so many others..in 2 years she has become recognised here and internationally as a competent leader,especially regarding the alternative.
Ardern was starting to come to grief here before Tarrant’s rampage gifted her a major boost. I regard her parliamentary Question Time performances as smart-arsed, evasive, & very reminiscent of John Key’s style, interestingly.

Under Ardern there have been numerous reversals & policy failures, detailed on YNZ by others I won’t bother listing them. She is hamstrung & to a significant extent often controlled by the mercurial, politically untrustworthy Peters, on whom she is completely dependent for survival.

Child poverty & social housing problems appear to have worsened under her watch. She is unfortunately saddled with some hopeless Ministers. Other major policy changes (in areas of Education, Heatlh, Corrections improvements/changes, Crime reduction initiatives,) have not yet been able to be properly examined as to whether they are successful or not. The time frames are too short, & her government seems reluctant or unable to provide much in the way of meaningful metrics or statistics by which to evaluate them.

I am nevertheless unimpressed bigly by Bridges, & Ardern has learnt the art of managing a compliant media & may even be actually leading her party at times now, so if Ardern manages to get another term with a cobbled together government I wouldn’t mind at this stage. A reactionary National government under Bridges would be awful.

David Seymour from ACT won an electorate..so how do you rate him?
Gifted to him by National. God knows why. Rate him as a prize plonker, most of the time.

As for Guaido..represents everything wrong with the world of NEO LIBERALISM..imposed on western nations since the 80’s.
Yep, bought & paid for. Unfortunately for Venezuela, Maduro represents everything wrong with altruistic but corrupt & incompetent socialist governments. The country was a basket case before the odious Trump cabal imposed economic sanctions with the aim of US Corporations roaring in & ripping off their resources for all they could get.

Not sure how things will pan out there in the end. Maduro’s been smart enuf to ensure his cronies & his plentiful army & paramilitary auxiliaries are well provided for, even if everyone else is screwed.

Blazer

Duker

Key was an MP for 6 yrs before the election made him PM. Opposition leader for 2 yrs and only got the finance spokesman role because Brash ousted English as leader and wanted a fresh face.
Whats forgotten is how green Key was as opposition leader, there was a sit down interview with one ‘serious’ journalist where English was there as a chaperone, as Key was prone – like he did as PM- to make policy on the hoof. And Key was fortunate to have Eagleson for 8 years who really ran the show from behind the curtain.
Unfortunately the details of first 2 years of Key has faded but he wasnt some supremo, but he had the media opinion leaders backing him as he made it one of his primary jobs to be ‘leaker in chief’ to TV and newspaper senior journalists, who as part of the ‘quid pro quo’ wouldnt openly “bag him” over his failings. Soper was for a few years a hold out on this sort wink wink dealing.
Thats the story too about Labours campaign slogan on ‘transparency’ as it was an open secret you got inside political information from Key , as long as he wasnt named and you didnt later ‘bag him’ when there was a ‘crisis’

Corky

Blazer

Corky

Glad to see you have come around to Trumpy’s way of thinking , Blazer. Oh..wait?

BTW, why are things on average, improving for all people across the globe? I notice that Salvador leader dude was only in power for three years. I think Venezuela took a little longer than that to feel the full effects of socialism.

If this doesn’t get Parti posting, nothing will. Except, maybe, a one way trip to North Korea.

While there are differences in the political systems in each case, they all amount to the same thing. The ordinary citizens – fed up with their poverty and/or declining standards of living for the midfle classes, joblessness, especially for the educated young, inadequate or too-expensive health systems, crumbling national infrastructure thru under-investment in maintenance / replacement – while the corrupt, entrenched political elites & allied businesspeople have all been enriching themselves at their expense – providing no adequate welfare systems or implementing policy initiatives to provide decent-paying jobs & efficient government services for huge swathes of the unemployed population – are rising up against their governments.

They are all demanding that their goverments must resign & be replaced with freely elected, democratic, technocratic governments – no more cronyism, no more sectarianism.

And in those countries where their governments have suddenly reversed unpopular tax increases & made promises of more jobs & welfare payments to the poor, these moves have not not mollified the thousands of protestors, who are insisting that their governments are so rotten to the core they must resign & that new elections (& in some cases, a new constitution) must be announced before they will clear the streets.

In Iraq the security services are shooting demonstrators, which is so far enraging & just fuelling the protestors & spurring them on. In Lebanon, Hezbollah is refusing to accede to the demands for a non-sectarian government (their constitution requires a Maronite Christian President, a Sunni PM, & a Shiite Speaker) & has huge armed forces.

It will be interesting to see how these revolts all pan out.

We are fortunate in NZ to not yet have reached these extremes. For all the poltical hot air that gets expended on what’s wrong with our governments they are far more attentive to maintaining working forms of social justice & wealth distribution in one form or another, to regulating businesses, to providing reasonably good health & education services & to ensuring jobs are available. Wages also generally rise. We vote governments out before things get so bad as in these other countries.

His Wikipedia article suggests he’s done a good tho not perfect job of running a mixed economy with social programmes & he has succeeded in keeping his country out of the clutches of US corporates & politicians. I imagine they will be working hard in the bsckground to get rid of him.